Laura Wallace, our Sales Support Executive travelled down to London to attend ICE Totally Gaming for the week. Read about her experience below...
I travelled down to London for the exhibition with Andy, who is head of our technical support team, we arrived on Sunday evening, excited and ready for a busy week ahead. We stayed in a central London hotel this year, with stunning views of Tower Bridge and about 25 minutes tube ride from the exhibition so when we arrived at the ExCel Center Monday morning we were eager to get on!
I am used to attending exhibitions and am a regular at EAG, but this is the first year that I have been part of the set-up team for ICE so it was a new experience for me. I couldn’t believe how big the event was. We met up with our stand contractors and spent the rest of the day setting the stand up and making sure all the products were displayed correctly, ensuring everything was working exactly as it should. Andy organised the technical side of the set up while I positioned everything and made sure the stand looked neat, tidy and inviting. We were launching a new product at ICE this year so we had to make sure that everything ran smoothly and that all of the new NV200 Spectral units were set up correctly and looking great. I contacted the marketing department back at the office, numerous times throughout the day just to clarify that they were happy with the stand set up. It’s important to keep the team up to date with everything that’s happening at the show, to guarantee a successful week after months of planning.
On the first day of the show, we arrived bright and early to the ExCeL Center having negotiated the rush hour tube successfully. The exhibition hall was already busy when we arrived, with exhibitors racing round trying to get last-minute bits together before the exhibition started. I was surprised to see a queue building up outside the main entrance with visitors eager to be first in. I was official stand personnel on the first day talking to customers and assisting them with product enquiries. Members of our international sales team flew directly to London City airport so I met them all at the ExCeL Centre to welcome them to the show, run them through the stand layout and how to demo our new NV200 Spectral. Before I knew it, day one was done! It had been a very busy day at the show and I was ready for a sit down. We went for a full team meal in the evening with our international colleagues. I don’t get to see them very often so this was a great opportunity to catch up and reflect on the busy day we had experienced and our plans for the rest of the week.
The following day, Wednesday, I had a free day to explore the exhibition. It was great to meet some customers who I have only ever spoken to through email and finally put a face to a name. I enjoyed looking around at what other companies were offering on their stands and I even saw some magic tricks!
On the final day, visitors were still eagerly entering ICE. Usually things start to quieten down towards the end of the show, however we were busy right up until 4pm when the doors closed. It had been extremely busy all week and all Andy and I had left to do was break down the stand and head back to the hotel for a well deserved rest.
I really enjoyed the whole ICE experience, we were overwhelmed with visitors on the stand and the NV200 Spectral launch was a definite success. I came back to the office and put my name straight down for next year!